Morgan Stanley has also revealed that it also part of the group of 14 firms facing lawsuits, relating to the bank’s role in underwriting secondary share offerings for New Century Financial and Countrywide, the US mortgage lenders.

Goldman Sachs reported in yesterday’s annual report that it had received requests from regulators for information relating to high-risk sub-prime mortgages and investment products that it had helped to package, such as collateralised debt obligations.

The FBI is still to name the full list of 14 companies being investigated.